


Beside Me

by celestialswrites



Category: The Last of Us
Genre: F/M, Father Daughter fluff, Gen, Nightmares, takes place near the end of fall
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-06
Updated: 2019-04-06
Packaged: 2020-01-05 18:35:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 959
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18371765
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/celestialswrites/pseuds/celestialswrites
Summary: Ellie can’t seem to go back to sleep after a nightmare, and contemplates waking up Joel.





	Beside Me

Ellie should be grateful that she was taking shelter in a dingy apartment rather than the open, dangerous forest. Rain pelted the dirt covered window, Ellie barely being able to see the pellets through the coating of dust. Maybe she should wipe it away. 

At least it would take her mind off of the nightmare she had. 

Just the thought of crawling back into a deep sleep frightened her. She didn’t want to experience it, not again. Death didn’t plague her dreams often, but when they did, she almost never went back to sleep. 

A muffled snoring could be heard in the room beside hers. With such thin walls, she would at least be able to tell if an infected got into the apartment. Her and joel would be continuing their journey in the morning, the apartment merely served as a resting place. 

But for some reason she wanted nothing more than to not be alone right now. 

Would it be weird to wake Joel up? She was forever grateful that he decided to take her to the Fireflies instead of leaving her with Tommy, so she pick and chose her requests wisely. 

Maybe a part of her was afraid he’d leave her one day if she pissed him off hard enough. 

A crackle of light hit the ground from the sky. She didn’t expect a storm to hit as the autumn weather was beginning to fade to winter. 

Tucking her knees close to her chest, she encircled her arms around her legs, thinking alone in the dark. Maybe she could just sit like this till the sun rose, but a part of her begged for sleep. 

Pushing herself slowly off the bed, she decided to head to Joel’s room. She could just make out the crack of his door that led to the bedroom he was sleeping in. The room was pitch black, apart from full moon peeking out from behind the clouds and the cracks of lightning.

After a few moments of thinking, she finally pushed herself to wake him up. Pushing against the door, Ellie cringed at the loud creaks. Joel merely shuffled in his sleep. 

Maybe this wasn’t the best idea. 

Pulling herself back out of his room, she began heading for the supply bag, the one that held some snacks, before she heard something from the bedroom. 

“Ellie?”

Shutting her eyes in defeat, she realized she’d probably have to face a grumpy middle-of-the-night Joel. If she knew anything about him in the day, she didn’t wanna know what this version of him was like. 

Peeking through the doorway, she was able to get an okay look at him, as the light from the window shone right onto his bed. Joel was sat up, leaning on his elbows, squinting at Ellie through the dark. Her eyes had adjusted, making it easier to see her surroundings. 

“Hey...” she whispered awkwardly, eyes trained on her feet. 

“Why you up so early?” He asked, calmer than she thought he’d be. 

Ellie licked her lips, trying to think of a proper answer. “I’m...sorry to wake you, I just...kind of had a bad dream, and I...I didn’t know what else to do. I can’t go back to sleep.”

Joel let put a long sigh before contemplating something for a moment. 

She was surprised to see him then pat the space beside him, scooting over to the edge. 

Ellie’s eyebrows scrunched. “Are you sure?”

Joel didn’t make eye contact. “It’s alright, just come lay down.”

It took her a moment to piece it together, but as she tucked herself beneath the sheets, laying on her back and staring at the ceiling, she realized why Joel had done this. 

This was what he probably did when Sarah had nightmares, and it’s all he ever knew what to do. 

Joel laid on top of the sheets, peering over to her. “You don’t have to worry, nightmares won’t come a second time.”

“How could you know that?” Ellie asked, shivering under the thin blanket. Winter was gonna be a bitch. 

“Because your mind is off it now, ain’t it?” Joel mumbled. 

Elie shrugged and gave a tired hum in response. 

“You...wanna talk about it?” Joel asked after a few minutes of hearing her rustle around. Sleeping beside Joel was unfamiliar, but at the same time comforting. 

“Not really,” Ellie mumbled back, trying to find a comfortable position.

Over and over she tried to get comfortable, but the lightning and chilly air kept her awake. Finally, noticing he still wasn’t snoring, she answered his question. 

“It was Sam dying.”

She could see Joel turn his head in the corner of her eye. “Again?”

This wasn’t the first time she’d told him of her nightmares, just the first time it wasn’t the morning after. 

She hummed a hesitant yes. It was a small lie. 

In reality, it was Joel who had died in front of her. For the first time, she didn’t know she was in a dream, and woke up questioning whether or not it really happened. 

Ellie shut her eyes, trying to push the image of his bleeding out body twitching on the floor out of her mind. 

“Just...try and get some sleep, even if it’s a little bit.”

Ellie nodded, curling herself into a ball, lying facing the door and shutting her eyes. Her drift to sleep was slow. Or maybe it was fast. She couldn’t tell. 

All she could remember was someone telling her goodnight and leaning over her while standing beside the bed.

She wasn’t sure if the kiss on the top of her hair was in her dream or not, but it seemed to make the nightmares drift away, leaving her with a dreamless sleep.


End file.
